And unlike pure battery-electric cars like the Nissan Leaf or even the Tesla Model S, the Volt can be driven all the way across the country if you want, just by filling up the gas tank for 10 minutes every 300 or so miles.
#2014 chevy volt range extender drivers#
Drivers will never know that's happening, however because the main drive is electric, there are no gear changes, just smooth, quiet torque. The Volt's powertrain setup is known either as a range-extended electric or a "series hybrid," though in the Volt's case there's an asterisk: Under some high-speed conditions, the engine can be clutched directly into the transmission to provide torque to assist the electric motor. The graphics on the displays are good, and users can configure the operating information the car delivers both to the center display and the display that replaces old-style gauges in a cluster behind the steering wheel. The interior is a more futuristic version of the classic Chevy twin-cockpit design, with glossy white plastic offered as one of the dash surface treatments, just like an iPod of old. The blanked-off front "grille" directs air turbulence around the car, and when the engine switches on, its exhaust exits under the car-underscoring the car's primary electric drive, there's no exhaust-pipe outlet at the rear. The resulting car is smaller, chunkier, and far, far more wind-resistant-all in the service of saving precious electrons by minimizing energy use, especially at speed. It was longer, leaner, more Camaro-like-and, rumor had it, more aerodynamic running in reverse than forward. The production car is nothing like the concept design shown, to a rapturous reception, at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show.
#2014 chevy volt range extender windows#
Inside, it seats four in deeply bucketed seats that are low to the floor, putting the bottom of the side windows almost at neck height for some drivers. As a result, it's slab-sided, with small side windows and a Prius-like tailgate whose main rear window is almost horizontal. The Volt's five-door hatchback styling is an acquired taste it shares some understructure with the Cruze compact sedan, but its roof is 4 inches lower, to reduce aerodynamic drag. Blame it on bad marketing, a brand-new powertrain concept, and a fair amount of bad reporting, but most car buyers simply don't "get" the Volt-or why its owners would be so astoundingly passionate about it.
In part, that's because even after that time on the market, there's huge confusion about how the first plug-in car from General Motors since the EV1 15 years ago actually functions. Now in its fourth model year, the 2014 Chevrolet Volt is commonplace in some locales, and a rare bird indeed in others.
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